We took the elevator up to my penthouse suite. Elliot occupied the only other one. A risk, maybe, but my suite was big enough to hide Athena should Elliot come by unexpectedly.
I went into the bathroom and returned with a robe. “Put this on,” I said, anticipating an argument and armed with a cutting response.
Athena surprised me by accepting it without making a fuss. She slipped her arms inside and fastened the belt, then wandered over to the large picture window and stared at the street far below. The lights from the surrounding buildings cast a shadow across her face. I stood in place, watching her, a deepening ache hollowing out my chest.
I tore my gaze away. I needed to get back to the club and deal with Tanaka before Elliot became too suspicious and started asking questions. Quizzing Athena on what the fuck she thought she was doing working in a sex club would have to wait. But, equally, I couldn’t leave her alone. I knew her far too well. The second my back was turned, she’d run.
Fortunately for me—not so much for her—I had contacts all over the globe. For all its benefits, enormous wealth also brought with it a shit ton of problems, the need for security on occasion an unwelcome necessity. But in this case, having those contacts worked in my favor. I texted a trusted individual, a man I’d used for personal protection on various occasions when traveling through the Far East. He responded within seconds, promising someone would be with me in five minutes.
Now that was service.
Athena turned around, leaning against the window with her arms folded over her chest. She looked so small and lost swathed in the thick toweling robe, but when it came to Athena, appearances were deceptive. One momentary concentration lapse, and she’d knee me in the balls.
“When does the interrogation begin?” A knock at the door startled her. She widened her eyes. “If that’s Elliot, don’t let him in,” she begged, panic bleeding into her tone.
“Don’t worry, darling. It’s not Elliot.”
I opened the door and smiled at the man waiting outside. “Three minutes. Impressive.” Standing back, I allowed him to enter.
“Who’s this?” Athena demanded.
Ignoring Athena’s question, I cut my eyes to the guard. “Don’t let her out of your sight. And don’t believe a word she says.”
I left the suite with Athena’s spluttering indignations ringing in my ears.
2
Athena
I shot a glance at the big oaf Ryker had installed to…to… what? Keep an eye on me. Babysit me as if I was twelve. I curled my hands into fists, my laser-sharp stare ferocious enough to burn holes in his face.
In response he yawned, hoisted up his pants, and plopped onto the sofa. He promptly began picking at his teeth.
Asswipe.
Also… urgh. Filthy habit.
And then my mind turned away from Mr. Disgusting to the important shit.
Ryker left. He goddamn went and left.
He’d always had more than his fair share of arrogance. Even as a teenager, he’d exuded power, control, dominance. It was one of the many things that first brought him to my attention, morphed him from my brother’s best friend to the man who invaded my every thought, ingraining himself so deeply in the very fiber of my being, nothing could scrape him out.
Wanting Ryker was the very reason I found myself here in Japan. Taking a job in this club hadn’t been part of the plan—I’d find a way to pay Hiroto back for giving me no choice—but after all those years mooning after Ryker and getting nowhere, I’d needed to get away. My obsession with him had poisoned me from the inside out, turning me into a petulant, bitter, jealous woman I barely recognized. I tried forgetting him, but it was like he’d put a hex on me. That was why I’d left the US, gone traveling, and for six months it had worked—kind of—until he’d walked into that damned club.
Why me? I’d been a sweetish kid. Worked hard at school, showed respect to my parents, looked up to my big brother. Hadn’t I earned a dose of normal teenage hormones instead of these mutants with an inbuilt homing beacon that led me to him?
Ryker ‘Jackass’ Stone.
I tried to ignore my obsession, to date other guys, but when they put their lips, their hands on me, revulsion always knocked me sideways. Nature had played a terrible trick, and I was the hapless victim. I’d been hard-wired to open my heart—and my legs—for only one man.
The one I couldn’t have.
Teed off with Ryker, I stomped across the living room and opened the first door I came to. Good. A spare room. After using the bathroom, I scraped the thick makeup off my face as best I could without proper cleanser. How long did Ryker plan to be? Where had he gone? I glanced at my watch. One in the morning. What could he be doing at this time of night?
Or rather, who.
Jealousy roared through me, setting fire to my chest, and my fingers and toes prickled as poison filled my veins. Simply the idea of Ryker with another woman was enough to make me want to give myself a frontal lobotomy so I wouldn’t have to deal with this pain any longer. The thought that, right this second, his hands were possibly on her smooth skin, touching her intimately, pushing his cock inside her…
Nope. Not going there.
I pulled back the covers and climbed into bed. Turning on my side, I tucked my hand beneath the pillow and tried not to think about the one time I’d caught Ryker off guard enough to give me what I wanted, what I craved, but tonight, it seemed, the memories wouldn’t abate.
I’d been seventeen, Ryker twenty-one. ROGUES had just been created, the six college friends fast coming to the realization that their lives were about to change in a monumental way. They’d gone out drinking, celebrating their newfound riches, testosterone-fueled, believing they could conquer the world.
I sat for hours staring out of my bedroom window that faced the front yard, waiting for them to come home, dying to lay eyes on Ryker, certain he’d return to our house. Growing up, he’d spent more time at our place than at home with his mother. It wasn’t that he didn’t love his mother. He did—fiercely—but as a single parent, she’d held down three jobs to make ends meet and, therefore, my mom became a surrogate parent. And he and Elliot were as close as brothers. Closer probably, because they chose to spend time with one another.
I’d tried to wait up, but in the end, sleep had claimed me. Scuffles and the loud whispers of drunk men who thought they were being quiet brought me back to consciousness. I’d opened my bedroom door a crack, hoping it didn’t squeak, and caught a glimpse of Elliot going into his room, and Ryker stumbling into the guest bedroom. He bashed his shoulder against the doorjamb, expelled a loud curse, then hushed himself. I giggled at his silliness, my young heart so full of adoration for this boy-turned-man who I’d effectively grown up with.
His door closed and cut off my view. I held my breath and waited for a few minutes, making sure the rest of the house was quiet. Filled with the burgeoning confidence of a girl on the precipice of womanhood, I tiptoed down the hallway. I gripped the door handle and pushed down. It opened silently.
I sneaked inside, closing the door behind me without making a sound, and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark, barely able to make out Ryker’s sleeping form. I quickly undressed and turned down the covers then slipped into his bed. The tips of my fingers danced over the smooth skin of his back, touching, memorizing, exploring.